Albus Severus Potter
by Lady.Of.Cythera
Summary: I decided to write a story in the future more about Albus' life. This is how I think it could have turned out. Please Read and Review! Thank you!
1. Chapter 1

"You'll be fine, Al." James said for the hundredth time.

Albus Severus Potter made his way to the front where the battered sorting hat was sitting. He could feel everybody's eyes on him at that point. What if he was put into Slytherin? What would his family think if he was? His hands shook as he sat on the stool. The hat was placed onto his head and he felt it talking into his head, "_Ah, yes, a Potter._ _As always, you Potters are difficult to place. Definitely not Hufflepuff... I sense wit and cunning, Ravenclaw? I can feel your courage somewhere beneath all this shivering and shaking. Could you be a Gryffindor?_"

"Yes, yes, Gryffindor." Albus muttered, hoping with every inch of strength inside him that he would be a Gryffindor.

"_Hmm, you are very difficult to place, indeed. As was your father and your brother. Even your Grandfather was teetering either edge of the Gryffindor-Slytherin borders. There's something in your heart, boy, something that pulls me towards placing you in Slytherin. Yes, very brave you are, but your intelligence will get you far._"

This was a hat for crying out loud, Albus told himself, whatever he says, and you know where you belong. You are a true Gryffindor. _A true Gryffindor! _Albus closed his eyes.

"_Yes, yes, you would do well in Gryffindor. But you would do better in Slytherin. There we go then, I have made my decision._"

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat called out to the Great Hall. How was this possible? He was a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin. He glued himself to the stool and didn't move. He felt a tap on the shoulder and as he looked around him he saw the hall applaud him. Why were they clapping? He'd just been put in the worst House ever! His parents wouldn't ever speak to him again. He managed to drag himself from the stool and walk stiffly towards the other Slytherins. There were barely any seats left. He saw a blond boy sat by himself at the end of the table. He recognised him from the boats and the train journey. He might as well sit next to him.

"Hello, Albus, isn't it?" The boy said. Albus nodded, mutely. The boy held out his hand.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy." Albus took the boys hand and shook it quickly before looking down again.

"Don't be frightened. I'm not going to be mean to you." Scorpius said, kindly.

Albus felt tears well up in his flashing green eyes. He tipped his head forwards and allowed his charcoal hair to cover all trace of emotion on his face.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked.

Albus shook his head and whispered, "I'm meant to be a Gryffindor. Everybody else in my family is a Gryffindor... I don't know what's wrong with me."

Scorpius patted Albus' shoulder, "Don't worry, the sorting hat doesn't misplace people. My daddy says wherever you're put it's the right place. But then he told me that if it wasn't Slytherin, he'd disown me."

Albus widened his eyes, "He said that?"

Scorpius nodded, cheerfully, "I expect he was only joking. You can't take people too seriously, nowadays." He said knowingly. Albus was beginning to like Scorpius and 6 years later they had become the best of friends.

...

"Oy, wake up, snakey." James lobbed a pillow at Albus' head. "We'll be late."

Albus sat up and looked about him blearily.

"By the way, you got a letter this morning from Jessica. She wants to meet you at the station." James was leaning against the doorpost; his bronze, ruffled hair was sticking out in all directions. Luckily for Albus, his black hair could behave... sometimes.

"You read my letter?" He pushed back the covers and walked unsteadily towards James.

"'Course I did. I'm not just about to let my brother get a letter covered in love hearts from a girl without me even being able to read it. How daft do you think I am?"

"You know with your hair like that, you kind of _do _look like a Gryffindor." Al pointed to James' hair.

"Why?"

"You look quite a lot like a lion." Al laughed. James dived on him and got him in a headlock.

They tumbled out the door and almost crashed into Lily.

"Watch out!" She called. James was laughing as he pinned both Al and Lily to the wall.

"Try get out of this."

"I reckon we can take him, Lil." Al looked at Lily and they both grinned. Pushing back against the wall with their feet, they gathered strength and released it on James who fell back against the opposite wall. He pulled out his wand and smirked.

"Guess what? I can do magic now. Guess who can't. You can't!" He let out a snigger. Just as he was about to cast a spell, Albus dragged him down to the floor and they began rolling about laughing and throwing light punches at each other.

"Boys, what are you doing up there?" Ginny's voice moved closer to them and as they looked they saw her emerge from the staircase. Lily ran for it and said, "It wasn't me."

They both stopped what they were doing and tilted their heads to look at their mother who was standing with her hands on her hips. Her eyes narrowed, "How many times have I told you to _stop fighting_! You're making such a loud racket I can barely hear myself think!"

James looked mischievously at his mother and then at Albus, "Hey, Al, is it just me, or do you think Mum looks like Grandma? She likes to put her hands on her hips a lot, particularly when we the gnomes go into her bedroom." James looked thoughtful.

Al let out a laugh but regretted it as soon as he saw his mother march towards them and then and pick them both up by the scruffs of their necks. "Not even dressed yet, are we? I suggest you'd better get a move on, hadn't you? This year is important for you both, isn't it? If you're not ready in time, the train will go without you, won't it?"

"Alright, alright, enough questions, woman, let me down." James knew he was being cheeky. He also knew he could get away with it. He always had been able to.

She let go of them both, gave James a quick slap on the back of the head and watched as they scrambled to get to the bathroom first. As usual, Albus won. They were both strong and fast, but Albus just tipped James off at speed.

"Not so clever now, are we?" Ginny laughed and went back down the stairs.

...

There she was. Jessica was waiting by the barrier for Albus: his Jessica. He couldn't help but smile as he saw her light brown, curly hair sweep the air in the wind.

"See you later, Mum." Albus gave his mum a one armed hug and his Dad clapped him on the bag.

"So, is that Jessica then?" He asked. Albus nodded, a little embarrassed.

"You'll have to bring her over for Christmas, if you want to that is." Ginny smiled as Albus nodded again.

"Yeah, I will do."

"Take care, James." Ginny said, "When I say 'take care' I mean don't do anything stupid."

James kissed his mother on the cheek, "When have I ever done anything stupid?"

"When have you _not _done anything stupid?" Harry looked over his glasses at James, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah, James, when have you not done anything stupid?"

The Potters turned and saw Hugo Weasley laughing with his Dad.

"Go on, you'll be late for the train." Ginny ushered them all towards the barrier and waved to Jessica, "Hello, Jessica, hope we can see you at Christmas?"

Jessica nodded and smiled, "Yeah, hopefully." She then joined Albus through the barrier.

...

Once Albus had changed into his Slytherin robes, he waited for the trolley to pass by their compartment. He was sat with Jessica, Scorpius and his girlfriend.

"Oy, Potter." Albus turned and saw Lysander, Luna Scamander's son surrounded by a load of other Ravenclaws.

"Is that a _girl _with you? Or is it a sister of yours?" He laughed.

Albus jerked his head up, "She's my girlfriend, actually. You know I only have one sister, anyway."

"So you're not gay with Scorpius then? Or are you all in the same relationship?" He snickered, nastily.

"I reckon you're jealous just because I have a girlfriend. You know one of those things that you don't have?" Albus retorted. He wasn't in the mood for Lysander. It was a shame because his family was good friends with the Scamanders. They were all nice apart from Lysander.

"Begging your pardon, Potter, but I have got a girlfriend." His friends chorused with laughter.

"I'll bet she's a real bitch, then." Albus was getting more and more annoyed.

"Wait, don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"Don't you know who she is? I'm surprised she hasn't told you." Lysander's grin widened.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'll be right back." Lysander left.

"Take your time." Albus muttered. Jessica slipped her hand into his.

"Just ignore him." She squeezed gently with her hand.

"Here she is." Lysander strode into the compartment holding hands with... no... It couldn't' be...

"Lily, what the-?" Albus stood up and saw his sister's face redden. Lysander... Lily... it wasn't true.

"You're having me on, aren't you?" Albus said, the disbelief blatantly obvious in his voice. Lysander leaned down and kissed Lily right on the lips. She pushed him away.

"Not in front of my brother!" She complained.

Albus wasn't sure how to react. "Why didn't you tell me, Lily?"

"Well – I mean, I knew you wouldn't like it..." She looked down and Lysander wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"What kind of a brother are you that even your own sister can't confide in?"

Albus stared at Lily but she wouldn't meet his eye. Turning away, he said, "Get out of here."

"Was that a threat?" Lysander gave a titter that really grated on Albus' nerves. He decided to pretend that they weren't there. Striking up a conversation with his friends in the compartment, Albus waited for Lysander to leave. When he finally did, Albus got up. "Be right back."

He made his way down the aisle of the train until he found James. He was also sat with a girl.

Albus unlocked the door and stepped inside. "Don't tell me you've been keeping secrets as well." He eyed the girl James was sitting next to.

"What are you talking about?"

"Is this your girlfriend?" Albus pointed to the girl.

"Not really sure. How about it, Jocelyn?" He turned to face the girl who smiled and nodded vigorously.

"Right, that was normal." Albus rolled his eyes, "Anyway, the reason I came here was to ask if you knew about Lily?"

"What about her?" James asked as he slung his arm over Jocelyn's shoulders.

"She's dating Lysander." Albus said.

"I'm sorry, what was that? For a minute it sounded like you said Lily was dating Lysander."

"She is."

James sat for a moment then stood up and grabbed Albus, "Come with me, Al. I'm paying old Lysander a visit." He got up and they found their way to Lysander's compartment. He was sat with Lily and a group of friends who were all laughing raucously.

James swung open the compartment door and Albus watched as they all stopped what they were doing; Lysander didn't pick on James as he was older than him and stronger.

"Hello, James, how are you?" His arm that was draped on Lily's shoulders automatically dropped to his side.

James' jaw clenched and Lily lowered her head and stared down.

"I need a word with you, alright?" James jerked his head and indicated that Lysander join him outside. Lysander looked uncertainly about him but nodded his head.

"Yeah, what do you want?" He asked, shooting wary glances at his friends who were all watching him, worriedly.

"So it's true you're dating my sister?" James was staring hard at him while Albus was leaning against the compartment door, arms folded tightly.

Lysander nodded, his lips pursed in one tight, white line.

James opened the compartment door causing Albus to jump back. Then he said loud enough so the whole carriage could hear, "If you break her heart, Lysander, I'll break your neck, got that?"

Lysander's cheeks were flushed and he nodded once and quickly as he sat down. James and Albus left for their own compartments, "Oh and Albus, if he bothers you, either, let me know, won't you?"

Albus nodded. Although he and James had their differences, they were probably the best of friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**I didn't actually know whether Lorcan was a girl or a boy... so I assumed he was a boy. Hope you enjoy this chapter even though this is probs my worst Fanfic. Never mind, eh? :D**

The next morning at breakfast, Albus stood up just as everyone was leaving. He made his way over to his sister, Lily, who was walking quickly towards Lysander.

"Lily, wait." Albus caught her by the shoulder.

Lily turned to face him, a little confused but when she saw who it was, she looked down.

"Can I talk to you, please?" Albus asked.

Lily shook her head, "Not now. I have to go see Lys- someone."

"Come on, I'm your brother!"

Lily didn't speak.

"I hardly get chance to see you because we're not in the same house. Please, Lily."

"Well, we can talk later." Lily shook out from under Albus' grasp.

"Wait!" Albus called after her.

"I have to get to class!"

"So you have time for _him _but not your own _brother_?" Albus called after her but she ignored him. "Perfect."

"Al, come on." Scorpius led Albus out the Great Hall.

...

"James?" Albus saw his brother leaning against a tree, surrounded by several of his friends.

"Alright, snakey?"

"Listen, can I have a word?" Albus always felt a little intimidated by James' friends as the majority of them were Gryffindors and in the year above. However they didn't say anything to him for which he was grateful. James looked at him before nodding, "Something wrong?"

They moved away from the crowd of James' friends and Albus looked at James, "Have you spoken to Lily?"

"No. She won't let me within 10 metres of her." James sighed.

"We have to do something. We both know Lysander isn't good for her. He'll only end up hurting her. I mean... he probably only wants her for one thing..." Albus shifted uncomfortably.

James nodded, gravely, "I know. I haven't seen much of Lysander, though. I think I've scared him off a bit, but when I do see him, he's always so wrapped up in Lily. But they never seem to be talking... usually kissing or something."

"Like I say, I reckon he only wants her for one thing."

It was true that Lily Potter was a very attractive young lady which caused Albus and James to be extra protective of her. They knew that boys had tried to take advantage of her before and they weren't just about to let it happen again.

"We should corner her and talk to her. This can't go on."

"She comes in late every night. So we could wait up for her." James suggested.

"I'm not a Gryffindor..." Albus rolled his eyes.

"...and?"

"You think I could sneak in?"

"You remember that day in the holidays when Dad showed us his cloak? Well... I figured I might need to use it at some point." James looked suddenly mischievous. "You could use that?"

"I have the Marauders map that Dad gave me in my first Year to help me get around school so I didn't get lost. Maybe we could get both Lysander and Lily when they're together." Albus said, completely unsurprised that his brother had stolen their Dad's invisibility cloak.

"Good idea, Al. But I don't really want to walk in on them if they're doing something... that would actually scar me for life." James and Albus shuddered at the thought, "How about we meet tonight outside my common room at say... ten?"

"Alright... sounds good. See you later, then."

...

After their final lesson had finished, Albus and Scorpius headed down to the Slytherin common room.

"Alright, boys? Off to find somewhere quiet, are we?" Albus heard Lysander's taunting voice. He walked straight past him, but then he saw his sister holding onto him. Lysander had obviously just been kissing her in front of his other four friends which Albus found gross. That stuff should at least be done in private...

"Lily?" He moved towards her but Lysander shoved him away.

"Who do you think you are, Potter? Get away from us."

"That's my sister you're messing with. If you don't move, I'll blast you apart where you stand." Albus said, losing the last ounce of patience he had been clinging onto for so long.

Lysander was quick. He drew his wand and pinned Albus up against the wall. "Don't you dare interfere with me and Lily."

Albus was shocked into silence by this. He strained his neck over Lysander's ruffled, blonde hair to see Lily. She was staring at the floor, but Albus could see the tears in her eyes. Then he felt himself being thrown to the floor.

"Get off him!" Scorpius ran at Lysander headlong and knocked him onto the ground. Albus picked himself up and took off his robe and dropped his bag. He rolled his shirt sleeves up and allowed his tie to land on his pile of things. He was prepared for Lysander when he jumped back up.

"You're taking this too personally, Al. Fair enough, I don't like you... but you're acting like we're about to get into a fight, or something." As he was saying this, Lysander also removed his robe and tie. Albus was fairly skinny, but he was still well toned with hard muscles. Lysander threw a punch to Albus' face but he dodged just in time, "We'll fight like men then, shall we?"

"Lysander, back off!" Scorpius yelled.

"No, it's alright, Scorpius. I can handle him. It won't take a great deal of effort, anyway." Knowing that this would make Lysander mad, Albus smirked. Lysander pulled Albus into a tight headlock. The whole time, Lily was shaking her head and covering her eyes and Lysander's friends were cheering and chanting. Albus waited in the headlock for a moment to allow Lysander to get cocky.

"Not so tough are you now, Potter? You thought you could actually beat me? You're such a wimp." Lysander squeezed Albus' neck even tighter. Reaching up slowly with his hand, Albus took a deep breath. Then he grabbed the back of Lysander's shirt and flipped him over so he was sprawled out on the floor.

"If you ever hurt her, Lysander, this won't be the last time I'll beat you up. Now get up, and go back to your common room before I decide to send a letter to your Mummy telling her what a bad boy you've been." Just to make himself clear, Albus kicked Lysander hard in the ribs. It felt incredibly good.

"Albus, no!" Lily flung herself over Lysander's chest and began sobbing heavily, "Lysander! We have to take you to the hospital wing, immediately!"

Albus did feel a little regret somewhere deep down, but he wasn't about to let that ruin his glory now. "Come on, Scorpius, I have to go put my stuff back before I meet James."

...

"James, is that you?" Albus followed the Marauders map to where he saw a figure named James Sirius Potter.

The corridor was dark and Albus had difficulty making his way over to James without tripping over his own robes.

"Yeah, hurry up and put this invisibility cloak on." James threw the cloak over Albus.

"Wait, James, there's something I have to tell you." Albus explained all about the fight with Lysander to James, "...so I really don't think she'll want to see me after all this..."

"We'll talk about that later. Just keep the cloak on until I give you the 'Okay', okay?"

"Okay."

"Let me look at that map. Where is she?" James scanned the pages until his eyes rested on two figures. " Wait... They've just come from the hospital wing. Now they're heading towards...I should have guessed. They're walking to the room of requirement... I wonder what they are planning on doing in there." Albus couldn't see James' expression properly but his tone was bitter.

"The room of requirement?" Albus whispered, questioningly.

"You don't know about the room of requirement? Blimey, Al, I thought I'd taught you well! It's a room on floor 5 and you stand outside the wall and think of something you really want or a place you really needed to be and a door appears, and whatever you need is there."

"You're having me on?" Albus disbelieve was obvious.

"Nope. I'll show it you someday soon. We'll just have to wait a bit until they've... until they've finished doing whatever they're doing..."

Albus nodded... which was a little silly as James couldn't see him.

"So you said you broke his ribs then?" James grinned.

"Yeah, I heard them crack. I must admit I did feel a little bad about it afterwards..." Albus dropped his voice.

"Why's that?"

"Well... even if we don't like him, I think it upset Lily to see him hurt. Even though he would have done that to me given half the chance, but it's different... like... I guess it's because I've always known I was innocent and when I hurt him bad... it means I stooped to his low level. I don't know... it just sort of makes me feel a bit let down with myself... I don't know if I'm making any sense or not but... there's no other way to describe it."

James nodded his head, seriously. "I think I can see where you're coming from. Even though that little git did deserve every second of it, it sort of looks bad on you. Is that what you mean? Wait, any chance I can nip under that cloak with you for a second? They're on their way back."

James reached wildly out for Albus and laughed. It was a tight squeeze but they both just managed to cover the top half of their bodies. As they crouched down, they saw Lysander and Lily walking towards them.

"Thank you for walking me back, Lysander. Goodnight. I hope your ribs aren't too sore from Madam Pomfrey's spell. It did sound quite painful..." Lily turned to go to the common room but Lysander swivelled her around to face her. Then directing her towards the wall he pressed his body to hers. James made to stand up but Albus pulled him back down, sharply. They both watched in disgust as Lysander kissed Lily. When it got too intimate they both faced the other direction, their expressions creased. "This is going to scar me for life..." James whispered.

"I wish they'd hurry up." Albus grumbled quietly.

"I really need to go, Lysander."

"Just two more minutes..." Lysander mumbled into her neck.

"No, I really have to g-" Albus looked up to see what had cut Lily off and he saw Lysander touching her lips again with his. _Gross,_ he thought.

"_No._ Lysander we've been at it all day and night, my lips are starting to hurt, and I have to go." Lily pushed away from Lysander, gently.

"Just another minute, please?"

"No." Fortunately for Lily, she had picked up her Mother's stubbornness.

"Aw, come on, baby." Lysander tugged her towards him again.

"Don't you know how to do anything else?" Lily sighed.

"Of course I do... I can show you if you like."

Albus heard the smile in his voice and he had to prevent James from blowing their cover again. Surely, this would be the last straw for Lily.

To his surprise she giggled. "Lysander, you really are a devil."

Albus didn't even want to know...

"But you love me for it, don't you?" He made a playful growling sound in his throat to which Lily laughed again.

"Yes and whether you deserve it or not, I can't help but love you."

"And you know I love you too. More than anything. I won't let anything get between us." They shared a tight embrace before Lily said, "I really do have to go... If we get caught out here... I don't want my mother or father to find out..."

"Okay, baby, I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget where to find me." Lysander winked and pecked her lightly on the lips before leaving. Lily watched him walk down the corridor before she entered the portrait hole. James and Albus slipped in quietly behind her.

"Where the hell have you been?" James snuck out from under the cloak and sat at the table. He had cleverly tossed some papers and books on the table to make it seem like he was doing something useful. Lily stopped in her tracks and took a sharp intake of breath before turning to look at James.

"Oh, you scared me, James." She turned to go.

"Wait a minute, Lily."

"What?" She turned to face him.

"I asked where you'd been."

"What are you still doing up?"

Albus could feel the tension building.

"I could ask you the same question." James retorted.

"Well, go on then. Ask me." Lily folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

"Listen, Lily, I don't want to argue with you." James took a breath but Lily interrupted, "Then let me be. Let me live my life and you can live yours."

"Look, I don't want to argue, but if you don't talk to me then I can't help you."

"I don't need anybody's help with anything."

"You don't think you do. Please let's just sit down and talk." James clenched his fists, "Unless... unless you want me to tell Mum and Dad... I wasn't going to because you're free to make your own choices, but I've been putting this off for far too long."

"Fine." Lily sat down and stared hard at James.

"Thank you." James sat down by Lily, "I just want to know what you see in Lysander?"

Lily didn't reply.

"Nothing? You think he's good looking and a charmer?"

Lily still said nothing, but nodded a little.

"Is that it?"

"No... he's really kind, funny and smart."

"Kind? He tried to beat Albus up."

"Albus was asking for it!"

James stood up, "You know... I don't think I know you anymore."

Lily didn't say anything and remained seated. "Albus broke two of Lysander's ribs just because he doesn't like me being happy for once!"

Albus couldn't' see much apart from a sort of red mist, "No, Lily, the reason why I broke his ribs was because he tried to hurt me first just because I'm younger than him and I'm an easy target!" Albus threw the invisibility cloak off him and glared at Lily. "There was a time when you put family before pathetic idiots. You think he's funny? I'll tell you what's funny, when every time I'm on my own and Lysander and his friends are around, they bully me. You turn a blind eye to that, or if you don't, then you have a sick sense of humour. You see this?" Albus lifted up his shirt sleeve and pointed to a gash on his arm; "You see this?" he lifted up the bottom of his shirt and revealed a long scar that sliced all the way down his stomach. "This is funny?"

Lily stared at Albus through wide eyes.

"No. I didn't think so." Albus' eyes were brimming with tears of anger. "For nearly all my life I've had to put up with this and you make me an open target by _dating _him? There was a time when you used to hate him too, you know. He isn't smart at all. Smart people don't bully somebody who has a lot of older relatives who knows who he is and could quite easily kill him if they wanted to which is what he bloody well deserves!"

James put a hand on Albus' shoulder. "Lily, look, you can date who you want. But we know what you've been up to and we don't want you to get hurt. We aren't doing this to offend you it's because you're our little sister and we are just being over-protective big brothers."

Lily inhaled deeply, "Is that all?"

"No, I just want to know what you don't like about him."

"I like everything about him." Lily responded quickly.

"We both know that's a lie. You think he's too pushy don't you? Don't you realise he only wants you for one thing?"

"I have to go to bed." Lily turned and stormed out.

"I think that went well." James smiled brightly.

...

"Al?"

"Oh hey, Lorcan." Albus turned as he saw Lorcan, Lysander's twin brother hurry to catch him up. Lysander and Lorcan looked very similar: both had white blond hair, deep blue eyes and square jaws. Although Lysander may have been more obviously good looking, Lorcan was very handsome too.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm fine, what about you?" Albus replied, smiling.

"Yes... I'm fine."

"What's wrong?" Albus found it very easy to read people.

"Well... I – I mean... what do you think about Lysander and Lily?" Lorcan asked quickly.

"I think she's treading in dangerous waters. Not that Lysander is dangerous... but he might hurt her emotionally and I'm worried that he'll take away her innocence. That is, if he hasn't already. Gosh, I sound like her father or something..."

"Yeah I know... I mean, Lysander's a dick and we all know it. Yeah, he's my brother and stuff and I wouldn't want him to die or anything but I hate what he's doing to Lily."

"Yeah tell me about it..." Albus muttered angrily.

"Right, anyway I have Potions now, so I guess I'll talk to you later, okay?" Lorcan sidled away down the staircase to the dungeons. A little odd, Albus thought, why was he so concerned?

Albus continued his day, feeling rather depressed... his sister hated him, Scorpius was ill and therefore not in lessons, he kept bumping into Lysander who gave him a real hard time about everything each time they met and just to cap it all off he got assigned a week's detention for arguing with him in the corridor... and also hexing him. The good thing: Lysander also got detention. The bad thing: They had to spend it together. _One week of Lysander..._ Albus didn't even notice his girlfriend, Jessica lounging on the sofa in the Slytherin Common room when the day had finished.

"Al? Hey, what's wrong?" She sat up, closing a book she was reading.

"Oh, sorry, Jess, didn't see you there." Albus moved to sit down beside her. She weaved her slim fingers into his.

"Answer my question?" She looked at him with imploring brown eyes.

Albus turned to face her, taking both of her hands in his, and explained everything that had happened.

"Well, maybe you and Lysander might end up getting along?" She suggested, hopefully.

"Ha! I've known him all my life, Jess; you really think an extra week will change things? Especially since he knows I've seen him running his hands all over my sister..." Albus grimaced at the thought and shuddered the memory away.

Sighing, Jessica admitted, "I suppose you're right."

"Well, enough about me. How was your day?" Albus asked, looking up at her. She didn't return his stare.

"Neutral." She moved her hands away from Albus' and looked dead ahead.

"Clearly not." Albus placed his hand on one side of her cheek and brought her to face him. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Honestly." She smiled and gently moved Albus' hand off her cheek, "I'm going to head off to bed now." She paused for a second before standing up. "Goodnight." She hesitated before heading towards the dormitories.

"Wait." Albus walked up behind her, turned her around by her shoulder and kissed her on the lips once. Jessica didn't react until Albus had pulled away.

"Wow." She appeared genuinely shocked, "I thought you'd never do that."

Albus grinned, "I didn't want to move too quickly for you."

She touched his face and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, "Goodnight, Al."


End file.
